Hank winding machine



Sept. i3, 1960 H. "r. O'NEILL, JR 2,952,417

HANK WINDING MACHINE Filed May 11, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet l L L & Q O

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1 S1 8w & O INVENTOR Lg HARRY TO E/u. Jre.

P 1950 H. T. O'NEILL, JR 2,952,417

HANK WINDING MACHINE Filed May 11, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR VOMS/LL J/ BY ATTORNEY5 Sept. 13, 1960 H. "r. O'NEILL, JR

HANK WINDING MACHINE 4 SheetsSheet 3 Filed May 11, 1954 H Rm m m N N R w0 m7 m M UM AB Sept. 13, 1960 H. T. O'NEILL, JR 2,952,417

HANK-WINDING MACHINE Filed May 11. 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVNTOR RRY0/1/4744, J/.

ATT RNE s United States Patent HANK WINDING MACHINE Harry T. ONeill,Jr., New Bedford, Mass., assignor to The Continental ElasticCorporation, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 11, 1954, Ser. No.428,978

4 Claims. 01. 242-56) The present invention relates to automaticmachines for winding hanks of tape.

Unless a predetermined length of tape can be wound and formed into anelongated flattened hank, banded and the band sealed at a relativelyhigh rate of speed and with a minimum of handling, the cost of packagingtape is often greater than the cost of the tape itself and unless thefinished package is neat and uniform, it is likely to be unsaleableexcept as a second.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provideautomatic winding equipment for forming hanks of tape of predeterminedlength, which equipment includes winding means which dependably gripsthe free end of a length of tape without the need for clamps, hooks orother mechanical connections, which equipment is compact and rugged inconstruction and functions with a minimum number of operating parts,none of which is delicate or likely to become deranged and is capable ofcontinuous operation with high output for long periods without attentionand the working parts of which are readily accessible for maintenanceand repair and the cost of upkeep of which is low.

According to the invention, the winding of the tape is performed by awinding head into which tape is fed from a source of supply, saidwinding head having a rotatable mandrel against which the free end ofthe length of tape is retained, solely by pneumatic means, so thatsuccessive convolutions may be wound around the mandrel and associatedmeans are also provided, dependably to sever the desired length of suchtape, after the convolutions have been wound.

In a specific embodiment herein chosen to illustrate the invention, thewinding head has a substantially circular, preferably annular cavitytherein closed by a cover plate and into which a continuous length oftape may be fed. The winding mandrel is preferably a hollow drum havinga plurality of openings in its periphery and suction means are providedso that the end of the tape fed into the cavity will be retained againstthe periphery of the mandrel.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of variouspossible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic front elevational view of themachine,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on a larger scale, taken alongline 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 oftion, the windingmachine of said patent will be briefly described.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawings, the wind ing machinecomprises a conventional frame 21 supporting a bed 22 having near theback edge 23 thereof an upstanding rear wall 24 on which are mountedsubstantially all of the major operating parts of the machine.

Extending longitudinally of the bed 22 in front of the rear wall 24 is amain shaft 25 rotatably mounted in a plurality of upstanding bearingbrackets 26 affixed to the bed 22 and spaced along the length thereof.

Suitable means are provided to rotate shaft 25. Such means may comprisea motor M, desirably mounted upon bed 22 and connected by a shaft 27 to.a reduction gear box 28 which, as it is conventional and forms per seno part of this invention, will not be further described. Through thereduction gearing in gear box 28, is driven a bevel gear 29 which mesheswith a corresponding bevel gear 31, affixed on one end of shaft 25 torotate the latter.

A barrel cam 32 is desirably aflixed on shaft 25 near the other endthereof, preferably between two bearing brackets 26, to minimizevibration. Cam 32 through suitable linkage 30 reciprocates a horizontaldrive rod 33, slidably mounted in outstanding bearing brackets 34afiixed to the rear wall near the upper edge 35 thereof.

Along the length of the machine is a sequence of operating stations atwhich the tape is successively wound, formed into a hank, handed and thebands sealed, stepping means being provided to move the material fromstation to station.

As shown in Fig. 2, the Winding station desirably includes a hollowshaft 41 which extends through and is journalled in a boss or bearingblock 42 formed integral with the rear wall 24 of the machine. The rearend 43 of the shaft 41 is journalled in and extends through a sleeve 44which has a flange 45 rigid therewith and securely retained against theblock 42 by means of bolts 46 screwed into wall 24. The rear end 43 ofthe shaft 41 is plugged as at 48 and the plug has a cylin dricalthreaded extension 49 which extends beyond the sleeve 44 and to which adrive gear 52 is; aflixed as by nut 53.

The sleeve 44 desirably has an opening 55 therein with an associatedthreaded nipple 56 to which a conventional vacuum pump (not shown) isconnected. The portion of the shaft 42 in alignment with the opening 55,desirably has a plurality of openings 58 therethrough so that whensuction is applied to the opening 55, it will also be applied to thebore 59 of the shaft 41.

As is clearly shown in Fig. 2, the winding head 64 desirably comprises aback plate 66, positioned parallel to and spaced from the rear wall 24of the frame by a plurality of rods 67. A front plate in the form of ablock 68 is aflixed to back plate 66 by screws 69 and has a circularopening 72 therethrough, concentric with a circular opening 73 in backplate 66 and through which extends the front end 65 of shaft: 41 whichis closed as at 78. Mounted on the end 65 of shaft 41 is a windingmandrel 63 which illustratively is a substantially hollow drum havingaxial openings 74, 75 through its rear and front walls 76 and 77 throughwhich end 65 extends. The shaft end 65 is aflixed in any suitable mannerto the front wall 77, such as by being screwed into the opening 75. i

The wall 77 of mandrel 63 as well as end 65 of shaft 41 aresubstantially flush with the outer surface of front plate 68 and theouter diameter of the mandrel is substantially less than the innerdiameter of the circular opening 72 in the front plate 68 to define acircular annular cavity 81 between the periphery 8 2 of the mandrel andthe inner surface of opening 72. 3

The portion of shaft 41 in mandrel 63 has a plurality of openings 84 andthe periphery of the mandrel 63 has a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced openings 85 so that when suctionis applied to nipple 56 acorresponding suction will be exerted in annular cavity 81.

Means, desirably a coverplate 86, rests against front plate 68 to closeannular cavity 81. Cover plate 86 which may beof transparent materialsuch as plastic, has a horizontal slot 87 therethrough extending fromnear one edge of cover plate 86 across the diameter thereof to andthrough the diametrically opposed edge thereof as is clearly shown inFig. 3.

Although any suitable means could be used to mount the cover plate, inthe embodiment herein shown, a pusher plate 91 is provided extendingparallel to back plate 66 to the rear thereof and rigid with a collar 92slidably mounted on the hollow shaft 41. A tensed coil spring 93encompasses hollow shaft 41 and is positioned between pusher plate 9 1and the floor 94 of a cup-shaped washer 95 encompassing the shaft 41 andextending through the opening 73 in back plate 66, thereby normallyretaining the pusher plate 91 and collar 92 in their rearmost positionon shaft 41 adjacent rear wall 24.

As shown in Fig. 3, the washer 95 has an annular flange 96 which restson the periphery of opening 73 to restrain inward movement of thewasher, the rear wall 76 of mandrel 63 being retained against the washeras shown.

The pusher plate 91 has extensions 98 that protrude beyond the edges ofthe back and front plates 66- and 68 respectively. Each of saidextensions 98 has a horizontal threaded screw 97 affixed thereto at oneend, which screws 97 extend beyond the front plate 68 and are rigidlyaffixed to cover plate 86.

In order to provide a passageway for the tape to be wound, into annularcavity 81, as shown in Fig. 3, an obliquely extending slot 101 isprovided at the lower end of front plate 68 at the left side thereof.The slot 101 desirably extends upwardly from its inlet 102 and has anoutlet 103 leading into annular cavity 8 1.

Tape cutting mechanism is provided to cut the tape after it has beenwound. Such mechanism desirably comprises an anvil 100 positioned aboveslot 101 and above a vertical guideway or slot 105 defined by a block106 mounted on the lower end of front plate 68 by bolts 107 and spacedtherefrom.

Slidably mounted in slot 105 is an elongated rectangular cutting blade108 which has a wedge-shaped cutting edge 109 designed to abut againstthe anvil 100 to sever the tape therebetween.

The blade 108 has a plurality of vertically aligned slots 111 throughwhich the bolts 107 extend to limit the movement of such blade.

Suitable means are provided to reciprocate the movable blade 108 so thatits cutting edge 109 may pass through the oblique slot 101 to abutagainst the anvil 100 thereby severing the tape therebetween.

To this end, the lower end 1112 of the blade 108 extends into a verticalslot 113 in a block 114 to which it is pinned as at 115. Aflixed to thebottom of the block 114 is a vertical rod 116 normally urged downwardlyby means of a coil spring 117 (Fig. 4), one end of which is afiixed tothe lower end of the vertical rod as at 118 and the other end of whichis aflixed as at 121 to a laterally extending arm 122 mounted on abracket 123, aflixed to the rear wall 24 and extending forwardly of thelatter.

The rod 116 extends freely through a vertical bore 124 in an actuatingblock 125, the latter having two vertical slots 126 straddling thevertical bore 124 and open at their lower ends as at 127. The lowermostposition of the block .125 on the rod 116 is limited by means of a nut128 screwed on the threaded portion 129 of the rod beneath the block andretained in position by a lock nut v131. The block 125 is normallyretained against the nut 128, which limits its movement, by means of astrong coil spring 132, compressed between the upper surface of theblock and a washer 133, the position of which on rod 116 is determinedby means of a nut 134 also screwed on the rod.

To reciprocate the rod 1116, a lever assembly is provided whichcomprises a pair of lever arms 135 positioned in the respective slots126 in the block 125. One end of each of the lever arms is pivotallymounted as at 136 to a mounting bracket 137 afiixed to the rear wall 24as is clearly shown in Fig. 4 and extending forwardly of the latter. Thefree ends of the lever arms rotatably mount a roller 138 therebetween,which rides on a cam 139 affixed to the main shaft 25, said cam having ahigh portion 141 to actuate the tape severing mechanism at the desiredposition in the cycle of operation.

In order to feed the tape to be wound into the cavity 81 of the windinghead, a roller 151 is provided driven by'a suitable transmission fromthe main drive motor M. The gears 152 and 52 for the feed roller 151 andthe mandrel 63 respectively are preferably so designed that the surfacespeeds of the feed roller and the mandrel are substantially the same atthe beginning of the winding cycle. Thus, as the surface speed of theelastic on the mandrel builds up, as one layer is wound on top of theother, the surface speed of the tape riding on the feed roll 151 willincrease beyond the surface speed of the feed roll itself.

Means are provided to aflford a positive feed of the tape by the feedroll at the beginning of the winding cycle, but to permit subsequentslippage of the tape once it has been fed far enough into the cavity inthe winding head for the tape to be retained against the mandrel forwinding.

According to the invention, such means is provided by forming the feedroll 151 as a brush having a plurality of bristles 153 preferably ofwire, extending radially outward and bent at their outer ends in thedirection of the feed, so that such wires will securely grip the tapewhen the feed roll is rotated in a clockwise direction and permitslippage of the tape when the latter is pulled-into the winding head ata rate of speed greater than the surface speed of the feed roll.

It is of course within the scope of the invention to use other means toprovide for such type of feed, such as a intermittent clutch andde-clutching device.

The measuring of the amount of tape in the cavity is performed byregulating the number of revolutions of the mandrel 63 and the feed rollwhich are preferably designed so that their surface speeds aresubstantially the same at the beginning of each winding cycle.

The machine thus far described is set up for operation by positioningthe free end of a length of tape which is desirably on a large roll orspool (not shown) so that it passes over the feed roll 151 and extendsthrough the inclined slot 101, past the vertical slot 105 into thecavity in the winding head.

The main drive motor M is then energized and through the drive impartedfrom shaft 25, 'to gears 52 and 152, the mandrel 63 and feed roller 151are rotated. At the same time, through any suitable switch means, alsoactuated by the shaft 25, suction is applied to the nipple 56 of sleeve44 and through the shaft 41, openings 84, drum 63 and openings 85 in theperiphery of the drum to tthe cavity 81 in the winding head. As theresult of such suction, the free end of the tape will be securelyretained against the periphery of the drum 63.

As the surface speed of the tape on the'drum builds up as one layer iswound on the other, the surface speed of the tape over the feed rollwill also increase. However, by reason of the radially extending wiresof the feed roller, such wires will bend as tension is appliedthereagainst as previously described, so that no tension will be appliedto the tape itself.

Based upon any predetermined setting of control mechanism associatedwith the drive shaft 25, which may be similar to that shown in thepatent, above identified, the drum .63 will make a desired number ofrevolutions depending upon the length of the tape desired in theindividual hank. When the desired length of tape has been wound on themandrel, the latter will cease its rotation and through suitable controlmechanism, the suction applied to the shaft 41 will be cut off.

fiibstantially simultaneously with the actuation of the mechanism tostop rotation of the mandrel and to cut off the suction, the main shaft25 will have been rotated to the position in which the high portion 141of cam 139, shown in Fig. 4, will engage the roller end 138 of leverarms 135.

As a result, the levers 135 will pivot upwardly about pivot 136, raisingthe block 125. By reason of the rigid coil spring 132 compressed betweenthe top surface of the block and collar 133, the vertical rod 116 willalso be raised rapidly against the tension of coil spring 117 to liftthe cutting blade 108 so that the cutting edge 109 thereof will beforced against the anvil 100 dependably severing the tape therebetween.After such severing operation has been completed and the high point ofcam 141 moves away from the roller end of the levers 135, the coilspring 117 will then move the vertical rod 116 downwardly to restore thecutting blade to its neutral or normal position, The spring 132 servesas a safety precaution so that when the cutting edge of the blade 188engages the anvil, any additional upward movement of the block 125 willcompress the spring 132 to prevent jamming of the roller end of levers135 against cam 139.

Suitable mechanism is provided to form a hank from the woundconvolutions of tape in the winding head and to move such hank away fromthe winding head in order that the finished package may be formed.

As such mechanism is substantially identical to that shown in the patentabove-identified, it will be described but briefly, sufiicient for aclear understanding of the invention.

This mechanism may comprise a pair of L-shaped brackets 161 and 162 eachhaving a transverse bore 163 in the upper end thereof through whichdrive rod 33 extends. Bracket 162 is rigidly afiixed to drive rod 33 byset screw 164 and bracket 161 is slidably mounted on drive rod 33 andkeyed thereon by a cross pin 165 which extends through a longitudinalslot 166 in said drive rod 33. A coil spring 167 encompasses thatportion of drive rod 33 between the upper ends of brackets 161 and 162and normally urges slidable brackets 161 away from fixed bracket 163,the horizontal movement of slidable bracket 162 being limited by a stopmember 168. The latter is afiixed to the upper end of front plate 68 byscrews 169 and extends laterally outward therefrom with the free end 170of stop member 168 in the path of movement of the upper end of bracket161 and normally engaged thereby.

A collar 171 is aifixed by set screw 172 to rod 33 at the left end ofthe slot 166 therein and is of such diameter that it may pass beneaththe end 170 of stop member 168 when drive rod 33 is moved to the rightby the transmission 30 from the main shaft 25 and cam 32 heretoforedescribed.

The vertical legs of brackets 161 and 162 each has a rearwardlyextending horizontal transfer finger 174 to transport the wound tape.Fingers 174 are aligned with and normally extending into transverse slot87 in cover plate 86.

In order to position the convolutions of tape on fingers 174, it isnecessary that the convolutions be pushed out of the cavity 81 and thatsuch cavity be opened to permit such removal. To this end, as shown inFig. 2, a pusher ring 181 is desirably positioned in said cavitynormally seated on the floor thereof.

A plurality of horizontal pins 182, illustratively three in number, areafiixed at one end respectively to the pusher ring 181, desirably atequal intervals, and extend rearwardly therefrom through openings 183 inback plate 6 66, the free ends of the pins 182 being aifixed to pusherplate 91.

Each of the pins 182 is desirably encompassed by a coil spring 184positioned between pusher plate 91 and the back plates 66 and they aidcoil spring 93 in urging the pusher plate 91 toward rear wall 24,thereby normally retaining pusher ring 181 on the floor of the cavity81.

It is to be noted that the lengths of pin 97 for the cover plate and pin182 for the pusher ring are so related that when pusher ring 181 isseated on the bottom of annular cavity 81, cover plate 86 will restagainst front plate 68.

Although any suitable means could be used to reciprocate the pusherplate 91 which controls the pusher ring 181 and cover plate 86, in apreferred construction, as shown in Fig. 2, a lever 185 is operativelyconnected at its upper end as at 186 to collar 92 and pivoted near itsmid point as at 187 on spacer 67. The free end (not shown) of the lever185 is actuated by suitable cam means on the shaft 25 to reciprocate thelever in timed relation with the operation of the equipment as isdescribed in the patent above-identified, so that after the desirednumber of convolutions have been wound, the suction stopped and the tapesevered, the pusher plate 91 will be actuated to move the pusher ring181 toward the right to move the convolutions of tape from the cavityand simultaneously to move the cover plate 86 away from the cavity topermit removal of the wound convolutions.

Thus, as the pusher ring moves forward and slides the wound tape out ofcavity 81, such tape will slide over the ends of transfer fingers 174 toencompass the latter.

Thereupon, due to the rotation of the cam shaft 25 and through suitablemechanism, also clearly described in the above-identified patent, thedrive rod 33 will be moved to the right.

As bracket 162 is rigidly afiixed to drive rod 33 and as bracket 161 isslidably mounted thereon and forced away from bracket 162 and retainedagainst stop 168 by coil spring 167, the movement of drive rod 33 willinitially impart relative transverse movement to and spread apart thefingers 174 of the brackets by moving the finger 174 of bracket 162longitudinally through slot 87 in cover plate 86. This spreading willcontinue until the collar 171 on drive rod 33 abuts against slidablebracket 161 at which time the convolutions of tape will have beenelongated and flattened and formed into a hank. Thereafter, as collar171 will pass beneath stop 168, both brackets 161 and 162 and theirassociated fingers 174 will be moved to the right longitudinally of slot87.

Such movement of the tape will position the hank between guide members191 and 192, shown in Fig. 5, and by means of appropriate pushermechanism 196 actuated from the shaft 25, through lever 197, the hankwill be forced off the fingers 174 and pushed against a band 198 intospaced runs of a conveyer system 1199. Thereafter the band will besealed and the package completed by mechanism shown and described in theabove-identified patent.

With the winding head herein described, the free end of the tape will bedependably retained against the mandrel so that it may be wound thereonto form a hank of the desired length.

As the feed roller will provide dependable feed of the tape into thewinding head, yet will permit slippage of the tape with respect theretoas the number of convolutions on the mandrel increases, there will be nostretching of the tape which, in the case of elastic, would cause theresultant package to be unsightly in appearance.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A winding head comprising a block having a cavity therein with a tapeinlet leading into said cavity, a mandrel in said cavity and rotatablymounted therein for winding of a plurality of convolutions of tapethereon, said mandrel being hollow and having an opening leading intothe interior thereof and having its periphery spaced from the Wall ofsaid cavity, whereby when suction is created in said mandrel, the freeend of a length of tape will be retained thereagainst, means to feedtape through said tape inlet into said cavity, said tape feeding meansincluding a driven roller comprising a brush having a plurality ofradiating flexible bristles adapted to engage the length of tape ridingthereon, means for severing the tape after a predetermined lengththereof has been Wound by said mandrel and means associated with saidcavity for moving the convolutions of tape wound on said mandrel off thelatter and out of said cavity.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said tape severingmeans comprises an anvil, a slidably mounted cutting blade, said anviland cutting blade being positioned respectively on opposed sides of saidtape inlet so that the tape may pass therebetween, and means to effectmovement of the knife blade against the anvil to sever the tapetherebetween when a predetermined length of tape has been wound aroundsaid mandrel.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which tlie outer ends of saidbristles are bent in the direction of rotation of the feed roller.

4. A machine of the character described comprising tape winding means,means to feed tape to said winding means, said tape feeding meansincluding a rotatably mounted roller comprising a brush having aplurality of radiating flexible bristles adapted to engage the length oftape riding thereon, the outer ends of said bristles being bent in thedirection of rotation of said feed roller, means for severing the tapeafter a predetermined lengththereof has been wound by said windingmeans, and means for removing the tape from said winding means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS383,686 Bansen May 29, 1888 936,610 Daniels Oct. 12, 1 909 1,601,784Wanders Oct. 5, 192.6 1,762,289 Dahlstrom June 10, 1930 2,019,857 HooverNov. 5, 1935 2,155,578 Anderson Apr. 25, 1939 2,318,056 Christman May 4,1943 2,340,340 Nordberg Feb. 1, 1944 2,446,400 Woolley Aug. 3, 19482,483,511 Vickers Oct. 4, 1949 2,492,900 Swenson Dec. 27, 1949 2,654,980Dexter Oct. 13, 1954

